Spinner dolphins, a nocturnal breed best known for friendly demeanor and aerial performances, moved one step closer on Thursday to receiving federal protections. Representatives of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association met with local tour boat operators, conservationists and community
Spinner dolphins, a nocturnal breed best known for friendly demeanor and aerial performances, moved one step closer on Thursday to receiving federal protections.
Representatives of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association met with local tour boat operators, conservationists and community members to begin a dialogue mandated during the development of an environmental impact statement.
The EIS will analyze the impact of closing areas frequented by spinner dolphins during their mid-day sleeping hours.
The nocturnal animals draw attention from tourists and locals alike, becoming a focal point of day-time activities like snorkel sessions and boat tours.
All of that attention deprives the dolphins of rest, conservationists say, dispersing the creatures to new areas and leaving them more vulnerable to predators like the cookie cutter shark. The sleepless days also may reduce the dolphins’ energy to feed, grow and reproduce.
But local tour boat operators who attended the meeting challenged the idea that day-time interaction with boats had a negative impact on spinner dolphin populations.
“I’ve seen an increase in dolphins, an increase in baby dolphins and I’ve never seen a dolphin injured by a tour boat,” said Mel Wills, who has run tours along the Na Pali Coast for 12 years.
The tour boats on Kaua‘i have been respectful of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which bans the pursuit, torment or annoyance of marine mammals, said Steve Soto-Amundson, an activist known as Kiwina.
But operators on other islands have marketed day-time interactions such as dolphin swims, he said.
“I’m tired of watching young ones not even make it through their first year,” he said. “Some things in Hawai‘i are not for sale.”
He and his organization, Malama i na Nai‘a, support a time-based closure of dolphin habitats, but he said a ban on the marketing of dolphin activities would be necessary, as would federal support of state enforcement officials.
NOAA accepts public comment through Nov. 24. A draft of the EIS will be presented for comment in the fall of 2007, with a final version to follow in 2008.
That means it will be almost two years before the results of the EIS determine if the dolphin will receive protection.
The timeliness isn’t lost on researchers.
“We’re kind of failing in our job to them,” Dave Johnston, a biologist working on the NOAA project said, pointing out declining populations of dolphins in places like New Zealand. “We’re really looking for input from people.”
Written comments can be emailed to spinner.scoping@noaa.gov or mailed to Chris E. Yates; Assistant Regional Administrator for Protected Resources; Pacific Islands Regional Office, NMFS; 1601 Kapiolani Blvd., Ste. 1110; Honolulu, HI 96814.
More information
To learn more about spinner dolphins and the impact of human interactions, visit pipin.org/community
• Charlotte Woolard, business writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or cwoolard@kauaipubco.com.
